Sepio Capital LP Sells 756 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Sepio Capital LP trimmed its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 756 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.79 and a 200-day moving average of $60.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

W. R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.